Operation Manual

Chapter 6: Two-track editing with Studio Plus 133
Chroma key tips
No matter how good your software may be, successful
use of chroma key depends on carefully setting up your
shot, and may require experimentation to get the details
just right. Here are some tips to get you started:
Light the backdrop as evenly as possible: Very often,
background coloring that looks flat to the naked eye
will prove on playback to have areas that are too dark
or too washed out to work well for chroma keying,
which favors even, saturated color. Use multiple lights
on the backdrop to ensure that it is well-lit across its
whole area and without hotspots. Diffuse sunlight, as
produced by a light overcast sky, can work well when
shooting out of doors is an option.
Note: A professional background cloth for chroma key
work is available as an inexpensive purchase at the
Pinnacle web-site.
Don’t let the subject shadow the screen: Arrange
your subject and foreground lighting so that no
shadows fall across the backdrop. The subject should
be not less than one metre (three feet) in front of the
backdrop.
Choose foreground colors carefully: Don’t have your
subject wear green if you are shooting on a green
screen, or blue for a blue screen; those areas will be
removed if they are taken to match the key color. You
have to be especially careful about this when working
with less even backdrops that require you to set a wider
color tolerance in the chroma keyer.